Little Red

‘Look what you have done!’ he growled to the girl.

***

The shower hadn’t helped, he still pondered upon his options. He sat in the chair, his body partially dried. The cigarette was balanced in his mouth and he lit the end, the flame singed his nasal hair. He leaned back, his naked body exposed to the room.

‘My, what big ears you have’ the words whispered as he read them from the photograph. His eyes followed the pieces of evidence, his stomach filled with anger upon seeing each picture that the Wolf had taken. He rubbed his face, making sure to avoid the stick dangling from his mouth.

The number was ringing; he held the phone to his ear.

‘Hello?’ said the voice

Nathan, what are you doing?

‘Hello?’ again

‘Richard, its Nathan…….I’m in!’

‘Thank you, really thank you’

‘There’s one condition’

‘Send it’

‘I’ll discuss it with you face to face, can you come over?’

‘I’m on my way’ the call was finished. Nathan looked at the wall again.

You’d better know what you’re doing Nathan.

The door was opened after the second knock. Nathan had waited eagerly for his new friend to arrive. They nodded towards each other and Richard entered the room. He spotted the metal trolley with a half-eaten cooked breakfast upon it.

‘Do you mind?’ he asked

‘What, oh, no….no help yourself, might be cold though’ the door closed behind him. Nathan passed Richard as he placed an array of food upon a plate. He sat in the chair by the bed and watched as his guest tucked into the meal.

‘I need to ask you something, actually, there are a few things on my mind!’

‘Shoot’ the words pushed past a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

‘You said something about having a source, what exactly did you mean by that?’

‘Look, you want to know the details, great, I’ll give you the details….but, I can’t tell you who my source is, I apologise but it’s not possible!’ the napkin smothered his face as he cleaned away the spilled food.

‘What are you going to do with the Wolf if we catch him?’

‘I’m going to do what I know best……I’m going to torture him, slowly, then kill him!’

‘What do you mean by know best?’

‘Nathan, I’m sure you’re eager to do a background check on me, so I’ll save you the time. I was a member of the British Army for twelve years. Based in the Intelligence Corps, my role was lead Interrogator, I worked my way up from the bottom and gained that label because I’m good at what I do’

‘Shit, how many people have you tortured?’

‘Interrogated Nathan not tortured. Hard to say really, quite a lot I suppose. I’ve worked a lot in the Middle East, if any suspected terrorists were caught and brought in, I was the man who met them. I was asked to get anything out of them, information to could deter an attack. Most of the time they withheld.’

‘Then what?’

‘I killed them!’

‘Jesus Richard’

‘It was my job, and I was good at it, still am’

‘But what you are on about doing now is murder, they’ll catch you’

‘Probably, but my motive is different Nathan. I don’t want to catch him because I’ve been told too. I’m after him because he has taken my daughter, it’s personal!’

Nathan understood the reason he wanted to find the killer, he just didn’t like the idea of helping the man behind Jack’s back. Once located, the Wolf should be arrested, this man wanted to butcher him, it seemed too risky.

‘Nathan, are you telling me you would rather see this sick bastard undergo a lengthy trial and receive twenty years or so, than be found with his balls castrated and his head on a spike?’

‘It’s Justice Richard!’

‘It’s bollocks, that’s what it is Nathan. Our system is pathetic; these wankers are protected and placed in a cell with a television and fucking x-box whilst the families of the victims have to live with their loss, every day, for the rest of their lives. That’s not justice, that’s torture!’

Nathan found himself agreeing with the man’s preach. It wasn’t the first time, that words like the one’s Richard was saying, had entered his mind. He hated the rules of the system, he deemed them unfair. But the position he was asked to fill had worried him.

‘Nathan, are you in?’

‘I’m in. There’s an issue I need you to sort for me’ the newspaper article was placed on the bed next to Richard.

‘This is your favour?’

‘Yes’ the cigarette burned slowly as he drew a deep lung full.

***

Lime’s hard soled shoes created a tapping sound that echoed down the stair well. The reports footsteps close behind. The time was approaching for the press conference and William’s body surged with electricity, today was the day he would be known by the millions watching their televisions. He buzzed off the attention, the camera flashes he had received on the way home yesterday had made him feel somewhat like a celebrity. He had looked straight into the lenses and offered a wide, friendly smile; a wave was given as he had entered his flat, the flashes blinding him like an artillery bombardment. The female reporter struggled to keep up with him, she panted between questions as they descended.

William laughed to himself as he noticed his groupie lagging behind, Come on girl, here girl, come on…..I got a treat for you, good girl….goooood girl. The insults were firing within his mind as if she were his lap dog. The door had swung open and barely missed the woman’s face, the draft brushed across her nose, tickling her eye brows.

They walked down the corridor towards the door guarded by two PC’s, William displayed a smile as he approached them.

‘Morning gentlemen’

‘Sir’ one replied

‘So, are we all set?’

‘I believe so Sir, the camera crews have been bringing the equipment in, the remaining personnel are in the tea room’. The constable’s eyes remained straight ahead.

‘Excellent, good work’ he flashed a wink to the reporter as she inhaled deeply, still suffering from their fast paced walk. They entered the large room, the chairs all in place ready for the bums to be placed. William stood, gazing at the interior of his theatre, this was the place where he could secure his name and make it known, this was the place he could act his heart out in front of the flashes.

***

Jack sat in his office, the pressure placed upon his shoulders from the case was taking its toll. The added weight that William Lime shoved on top was doing him no favours. He felt bad for Nathan, he had asked him to come to the UK from his Spanish Villa, and work covertly on a case he deemed important. It had resulted in his